The bill narrowly failed a vote in the California State Senate in April because of concerns it would be bad for business. It passed when revisited in August. In an effort to avoid the imposition of a mandatory kill switch requirement, CTIA-The Wireless Association, a wireless communications trade group, proposed a voluntary agreement to include "a baseline anti-theft tool" in US smartphones that could be either pre-loaded or downloaded.

But New York attorney general Eric T. Schneiderman and San Francisco district attorney George Gascón urged that the kill switch be enabled by default. And that's essentially what California's law requires, unlike the smartphone anti-theft law passed in Minnesota earlier this year.

The law represent an attempt to reduce rampant smartphone theft. Approximately 30% to 40% of robberies in major US cities involve the theft of mobile communications devices, according to the San Francisco district attorney's office. In San Francisco, that figure is 65%.

A kill switch enables the phone's owner to disable the device remotely, via wireless command, so that it cannot be used. Law enforcement officials argue that widespread use of kill switches will reduce the incentive to steal smartphones.

With Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, and other handset makers and mobile carriers onboard, the kill-switch train has left the station. However, there's a lot of confusion about what the kill switch actually does. Here's what you need to know.

Yes this law must be made mandatory globally. Looking at how much personal and official data one person keeps on smartphone its theft has to be taken seriously just like any other precous metal or cash theft. SOmetime people also let their internet banking passwords stored in smartphone. SO yes this law must be made stringent.